Alliance Company' s Position.
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Meetings of the creditors and shareholders of the Alliance Motor Bus Company, Ltd., in liquidation, were held at the Board of Trade offices, in Carey Street, on Thursday last. The statement of affairs shows debts and liabilities as follow :—Six unsecured creditors, £5,216 16s. 8d.; loans on debenture bonds (two holders) deducted contra, £2,017 9s. 9d. (estimated to rank at £589 3s. 10d.) ; gross liabilities, £7,264 6s. 5d. (estimated to rank £5,836 Os. 6d.). The assets are as follow :—Cash in hand and at banks, and value of office furniture, £12 17s. 10d. ; unpaid calls (18 debtors), £25,237 4s. 1d. (estimated to produce £1,415 8s. id) ; estimated total assets, £1,428 5s. 11d_ Deduct loans on debenture bonds secured on the assets of the company as per contra, £1,428 5s. 11d. Estimated amount to meet unsecured creditors, nil. Estimated deficiency, £5,836 Os. 6d. There is no unpaid capital liable to be called up to meet the deficiency. The Official Receiver, in his observations, states that the winding-up order was made on 15th October, 1907, upon a creditor's petition. The company, which was promoted by Motor Enterprises, Ltd., was registered on 24th April, 1906, with a nominal capital of £200,000 in shares of £1 each, and was formed to acquire motorbuses and run them in London and elsewhere. The first and only directors of the company were appointed by the-Articles of Association, and were Messrs. II. F. Clutterbuck, F. W. Kerr, the Hon. G. E. H. Trevor, J. A. McCandlish, H. W. Dawson, and S. K. Albright. Dawson resigned on 4th January, 1907, Albright on 18th June, 1907, Clutterbuck acted as chairman of the company. Of the directors, Trevor, McCandlish, Dawson, and Albright, were also directors of, and interested as shareholders in, Motor Enterprises, Ltd., the promoting vendor company. Albright was appointed, in May, 1906, managing director of the company for a period of five years at a salary of £600 per annum and 5 per cent, of the net profits. A director's qualification was the holding of 200 shares in the company, and all the directors appeared to have qualified. The remuneration of the directors was fixed at £200 per annum each, with an additional £100 per annum for the chairman. The directors had drawn one quarter's fees only, viz., £275, and were not claiming further fees. By the purchase contract, which was entered into by Motor Enterprises, Ltd., with the company, of 5th May, 1906, the company acquired for a consideration of £14,000 (payable £7,000 in cash and £7,000 in fully-paid shares of the company), the benefit of certain contracts relating to the manufacture and delivery of motor chassis. and bodies, as well as the benefit of the vendor company's data and statistics relative to motor traffic. On 15th May, 1906, the company issued a prospectus inviting subscriptions for 100,000, shares. The mtnimum subscription, fixed at £35,000, was stated to have been underwritten, of which £10,000 was by the directors and their friends. The underwriting contracts werenot set out in the prospectus. The circumstances in which the underwriting was effected and the company went to allotment, have given rise to a number of actions against the company. Only 627 shares had been applied for by the public, and the directors proceeded to allotment. In making an allotment of the minimum subscription of 35,000 shares, recourse was had to the underwriters. The company did no business except the ordering of some motorbuses and payments made on account of them. The failure of the company is attributed by the directors. to the failure of holders of a large number of shares to respond to the applications made for payment of calls due upon the shares, and the consequent want of working capital. In theopinion of the secretary, the failure is due to litigation and mismanagement of the company.
There was not a quorum at the creditors' meeting, and theproceedings were adjourned for a week. Mr. Merckel (Kenneth Brown and Co.), on behalf of the petitioning creditors, observed that in the petition presented there were most serious allegations. with regard to the persons who had been acting for the company. The strictest investigation should be made.
The Official Receiver said that the circumstances relating to. the underwriting were still being inquired into.
The shareholders met subsequently, when it was decided that a liquidator was not necessary, and that the matter might remain in the hands of the Official Receiver.
The following are the unsecured creditors :— Goodwin & Rawlinson, petitioners. Goods .., £2,154 13s. 11d.
Motor Enterprises, Ltd. Balance of account 2,817 9s, 10d.
S. K. Albright, managing director's salary ... 267 18s. lid.
Sundry small accounts ... 6 14s. Od.